Friday, June 22, 2007

The real first couple of TV

For those of you who read the comments when they appear, you may have read what my friend Keith said about the posting below no who was the first couple to share a bed on TV. He said it was the 15 minute show Mary Kay and Johnny that starred Mary Kay and Johnny Stearns as themselves. According to the site Keith pointed me to as well as the site imdb. The program was the first in many areas. They were the first real life married couple on TV. They were on the air before "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet" and before "I Love Lucy." They had one of the first ads on the air with Anacin that had the outline of a man taking their product to get relief.

Back then there was no way for advertisters to know if anyone was watching. Anacin decided to offer 200 mirrors to the first 200 people who wrote in to tell what they thought of that weeks episode. This would tell them if anyone was seeing their ads. To be safe they ordered 400 mirrors so no one would be disappointed. They got 8,960 letters.

While "I Love Lucy" was the most popular show to have a child born on the same day as the fictional character gave birth it was not the first time it was done. Mary Kay and Johnny did it first. Since their show was aired live the story centered around Johnny pacing in the waiting room.

I know Keith said he didn't like to correct me on my site but to Keith and anyone else I have to say that it is all right to do so. This way we all learn something.